HOI S!-: AND ITS EQUIPMENT. 



35 



THE BILLIARD-ROOM 



77/1 1 Rc i nll A ^tiinsl t/ic Onlinurv Tulilc -The Arrangements 

 Lighting Oncslinns A Slnnc / &amp;lt;//&amp;gt;/&amp;lt; .1 Rmmi 



the Hilliards (. milrn/ (./u/&amp;gt; 

 //; Riiivd Dttis. 



NOT least among the problems ol the house is the equipment of the billiard-room. It must be 

 admitted at once that most makers of billiard-tables have been content to repeat in thoughtless 

 fashion the treatment which contented their predecessors of fifty years ago, when Karly 

 Victorian ideas were supreme. &quot;1 he worst parts of the ordinary table are the ugh and massive 

 turned legs, which too long have kept their ascendancy. Sometimes variety lias been secured 

 by treating the top of the leg like the capital of a column with volutes of large projection ; but thesi- 

 not only offend by their borrowing of an unsuitable architectural element, but are apt to hit the legs of 

 players. Of late, however, some thought has been directed to table design. Though there is still much 

 to be done to bring the ordinary stock pattern into line with contemporary ideas, the examples illustrated 

 show a good tendency. A few years ago considerable attention was given to this question by designers, 

 who were captured by the superficial clevernesses of the New Art movement, and tables were produced 

 with legs that seem to have been inspired by a guttering candle. No good purpose, however, would be 

 served by illustrating examples which have no claim to interest, except in so far as they represent the 

 outcome of a strained originality. 



A billiard-table is from its very nature and use a massive thing. The slate top is heavy, and in order 

 to secure an absolutely true surface, it is essential that the framework which supports the bed shall be 

 entirely rigid and free from danger of warp or twist. To prevent sagging, not less than eight legs can 

 safely be used. Nor is it enough that they should be strong enough in fact, for sufficient support could 

 be secured by employing a stout iron tube. The decorative demand for strong thing&amp;lt; is that they should 

 also look strong, and the legs must, therefore, be reasonably bulky. The table designed by .Mr Voysey shows 

 how a simple thing, which lacks decorative adjunct, can yet be satisfactory (Fig. 57). There is nothing about 

 the design which involves any expenditure above what is needful for a table fitted with the ugliest turned 



53. AT ARDKINGLAS. 



